Faith Alive: Interactive Worship for the Great New Church

Matt Cooney and Houston Hodges have been part of the "Faith Alive" experience since its beginning in 1998. This service - at Faith Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama -- has grown from a once-a-month experiment on Saturday night with 30 or 40 in attendance, to a weekly 8:30 a.m. event with over a hundred worshipers, half of whom are under twelve years of age. The service is interactive, intergenerational, informal, and family-friendly. It features leaders of all ages, with 75% to 90% lay leadership, and 10% to 25% ministerial visibility. Jessie Davison, 16, made one of her first solo trips after she got her license, to drive to Faith Alive. Laura Van Puersem, 9, woke her mother to drive her to church, after her dad had let her sleep in; she got there ten minutes late, but she was there. Debbie Sullivan says, "Thank you for making it unnecessary to insist that my girls come to church." Second grader Tiffany Crowder wrote, "I lerneb more about God and Jesus Chirst." This is the story of the "lurching discernment" by which Faith Alive has grown and the process by which it takes place, with many examples from actual worship services.